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While trying to remove the steering wheel off my 1950 Belair using a steering wheel puller, one of the bolts pulled out of the hole, stripping it. The other bolt remained in place. Any suggestions how I can remove the steering wheel now???

Can you re-thread the hole to the next larger size?

Hi Hawkeye,

I would retap the hole to accept a bigger bolt. Then reinstall the puller and tighten it slightly. The purpose of a puller is not necessarily to draw the steering wheel completely off the shaft of the worm gear. It is more to just put upward pressure on the steering wheel so that you can lightly hit the end of the center puller bolt with a hammer. The impact will cause the shaft to move slightly dislodging the wheel from the shaft. If this doesn't work then tighten the puller a little more and hit the puller bolt again.

I do make sure my bolts are long enough to thread all the way through the threads of the steering wheel. In this case longer is better!

Good luck, Mike

Well, I was able to remove the steering wheel. I drilled out the stripped hole and re-tapped it. Put in the larger size bolt and connected it to the puller. After the second adjustment, the bolt pulled out of the newly tapped hole. So I went to the local hardware department, my basement, and found a smaller diameter bolt and nut. I was able to put the smaller bolt thru the damaged hole and fastnen a nut to it using needle nose pliers. I re-connected the puller and after a little Blaster, five or six wrench tightens and hammer hits, it popped off. There just was not enough meat left for the tap to do a good job. I will save the old wheel and probable restore it if the new re-popped Butterfly wheel does not pan out. Thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge and knuckle scrapping experiences.

The easiest and fastest way I found to remove steering wheels is with an air hammer with a pointed pin bit. I put my two knees under each side of the wheel applying pressure up by flexing my arches up either off the floor or something on the floor to take up the distance so the tops of the legs come in contact with the wheel. While pressing up with my legs/knees, I use my left hand on the wheel and the air hammer in my right, lightly pressing the trigger while the pin is in the center of the shaft. Usually one or two quick presses of the trigger and the wheel is off in your hand. Be careful though as it's easy to pull too hard the wheel comes off surprisingly fast. I've found pullers in the past to be more of a PITA than they're worth on steering wheels. My brother was a mechanic for years and he's told me many of his air hammer secrets. I can't believe how easy one can make working on a car.

When removing a metal in line fuel filter with threaded ends he taught me to use a piece of metal to back up the nut on the filter and then hit the other side of the nut with a blunt hammer tip. One or two light taps on the trigger and the line just unscrews out of the filter, even when the line is rusty. Same with brake lines. No more twisting the hole line and having to replace it all. Try it, you'll be surprised.

I always put the nut on the so it is flush with the shaft, that way you will not damage the threads or smack yourself when it comes flying off.

I also install the nut on the steering shaft before removing the steering wheel. It is a lot safer that way and you get to keep all of your teeth as well!

Oh Ya, I forgot to add the part about putting the nut on enough to keep from flying backwards with steering wheel in hand! LOL Sorry.